How to get clear (readable) permanent subtitles?

[daeghran]

Hi,

I'm converting an XviD with external subtitles (SRT file) to SVCD. I can get the permanent subtitles to encode no problem but when I view the mpg after its finished the subitles are there but they are very hard to read. They come out in the font I chose (Arial, bold, 18pt) but the borders seem to be half there, half not. What settings should I use to get a nice think black border around the subs so that they are more readable?

BTW I'm using DVD2SVCD 1.2.1 build 2, Avisynth 2.5, WinXP

Thanks,
D

[AlejoB]

I´m trying to make a VCD with external subd .srt to become permanent on the movie, first the subs are very far from clear an some of them are just not in there, they are on the .srt file, if I watch the original .avi whit the subs on my PC they are there but in the finish .mpeg some of the subs are missing.

same settings as you}

I hope someone could help

[AlejoB]

After an extensive search over the net I´ve found a method for getting quite good subs with a nice outline, I think thats the setting that DVD2SVCD is lacking now the thickness of the outline,

There is a nice guide on http://www.afterdawn.com/articles/ the one called Convert DivX to VideoCD format with VobSub Subtitles. Since VobSub now include TextSub and VobSub plugins for VDub you can use any subtitle format.

Something you need to install Vdub first of all and then VobSub with the Plugins for Avisynth and Vdub, it is asked on the VobSub setup

I hope this helps, any question just post if I can I will anser them

[daeghran]

Thanks for the help, but I'm using CCE 2.5 to encode which gives by far the best quality when encoding SVCD's.

But I think you're right. It seems like the subtitles are fine except that the border around them is too thin and I don't see anywhere in DVD2SVCD to set that up.

Oh well, hopefully they'll include it in the next release.

[sehh]

I'm using dvd2svcd to convert DVDs to SVCDs,
and i always use permanent subtitles.

I've come to the conclusion that the quality of the subtitles
depends on the dvd (the authors of the dvd to be more precice).

What i mean is, that a dvd made by the originating studio
usualy has subs in many languages and they always look good, unlike
dvds made by 3rd parties which mostly offer fewer selection
of languages and their subs may not look as good.

The reason why there are 3rd party dvds of the same movie that
may have been released by the originating studio is simple, money.

Many times the importers have the choice of either importing the
original dvd, or importing the movie in a digital format and
converting it to dvd themselfs (comes in digital beta cassets).

So, as a result, many dvd movies may not be of the highest quality
because the importer authored the dvd by hand, thus picture
quality may not be as good as it could be, and subtitles are not
that good.

PS:
some dvd subs may even switch the transparent color with the
font background color, thus making 'outline-only' subs which
are unreadable.

[AlejoB]

I think you´re writing about subtitles that come on an image format, i think they do not have any problem because the outline is included, but the problem occurs at least on my case with external subs wich have to be processed by DVD2SVCD, then the program doesn´t includes any outline.

Thanks for your reply

[DDogg]

I'm using CCE 2.5 to encode which gives by far the best quality when encoding SVCD's. jeez, why do people make unsubstantiated statements like this? Without even a "IMHO" being used? (Don't mind me, I'm feeling crusty tonight :) )

[sehh]

external subs? oh i didn't quite catch that.

[jevries]

I agree the quality is quite bad especially when the movie background is bright. When you have a widescreen movie there's no problem the subs look nice on the black background that means the white text is ok. it's the outline that has a strange kind of behaviour. I've tried to change the color settings of the subs but it doesn't do anything for external subs.
Isn't there any solution to solve this problem?

By the way, I've noticed that when you open a bitmap file of the converted subs they have a black background so it seems like the black background is washed away in the final movie. You can compare it with bluescreen where the blue is washed out only in the cas of permanent subs it doesn't do a great job.